


Faith

by symphorine



Series: a change that will not be undone [2]
Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: (random soldier), Dragon Age: Inquisition Quest - What Pride Had Wrought, F/M, Minor Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-14
Updated: 2018-12-14
Packaged: 2019-09-17 20:42:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16981473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/symphorine/pseuds/symphorine
Summary: Cullen leading the Inquisition's army in the Arbor Wilds; relentless, not tireless.But devoted.Miraculously, by the time he gets a small breadloaf and salted meat thrust into his hands by one of Leliana's subordinates, they aren't all dead yet.





	Faith

**Author's Note:**

> cullen pov/cullen centric, with aleth at the end
> 
> inspired by a soldier's comment i overheard while going around the camp right before getting to the temple of mythal and also by the fact that, after romancing him, i now like cullen.

"I don't think the man has slept more than an hour in the last two days."

Cullen keeps going, the soldier's whisper following him on his path. He hasn't had time to shave, or clean up, for that matter; who does, really, when there's a battle going on and your soldiers' fate depends upon your every decision?

He stops with a group of tired scouts eating a meagre breakfast before going back out, pats them on the back and tells them they're appreciated, that thanks to them he'd known to not strike the main force from the east. It doesn't give them much more energy, but when they get up a few minutes later, there is a determination in their shoulders that wasn't there before.

The sun is barely going up, and only pauses once to drink from the little jug attached to his belt before seeing his captains and deciding of their next move. Cullen doubts Corypheus is the mastermind behind his forces' decisions, but whoever is is doing a damn good job.

"Commander," the healer says, a sigh in his voice. "I don't think this one will make it."

Cullen nods, and sits down next to the young woman who's lying down, barely strong enough to breath. "What is your name?"

She struggles, swallows. "Eyel," she says, finally, frowning from the pain.

"Eyel." Cullen's hand finds hers, terribly cold, and he holds it. "You won't be forgotten."

She dies soon after, her body taken to rest with the others before they can return them to their families. Cullen confers with Cassandra, trying to decide where their templars would best be used, then goes to meet the orlesian general, then...

"Commander," the archer says, her hood unable to hide the tired lines of her face. "A group broke through - here," she adds, pointing at a location on the map Cullen remembers sending a group to not an hour before. "Everyone else dead."

She speaks without passion, and Cullen understands. They're the ones dying here, but this is bigger than them, and they must stay focused. There will be time to mourn, eventually, and if there isn't - if there isn't...

"Go rest," he orders, pointing at the tents behind him. "I will send reinforcements." He puts a hand on her shoulder as she passes him and she nods, then he lets her go. That's almost ten men, he counts, ten others dead under his orders. Not the first, not the last; he takes a deep breath, sends a messenger, tries to find Leliana to ask her what her scouts can tell them.

It's almost midday before he hears from the Inquisitor. She's been fighting too, he knows, destroying small encampments with some others. Dangerous, but not much more than anything else she's done, and there aren't many safe places around here right now. He'd suggested she stay back, safe until they could make her a path to the temple, and she'd just waited in silence until he'd taken it back.

"Commander," the messenger says, "the Inquisitor is making her way back to the main camp. She'll be here shortly."

They go almost before he can acknowledge what they said, and for a moment he's left alone with his thoughts and no one asking for his attention.

For a moment he isn't the Commander anymore, and he misses her. Maker, he misses her, misses waking up next to her, taking walks in the garden together, listening to her mock his chess moves against Dorian. He's been here for days, busy with the fighting; she had only caught up yesterday, and they haven't even had the time to exchange a few words.

Then he's called again, and he goes. There is more than one life under his responsibility, and beyond that more than their safety at stake; he cannot be selfish while leading his army against a demigod.

Supply routes and troup rotations make up most of the next hour, and he's glad he knows the face and name of so many of his officers, or going from one to the other would have made his head turn with confusion long ago. Miraculously, by the time he gets a small breadloaf and salted meat thrust into his hands by one of Leliana's subordinates, they aren't all dead yet. Not that he'd ever voice it to anybody, not like this; he trusts his own judgement enough, but there is always that nagging fear that he missed something, the smallest detail, and when that fear rises, all he can think about are all the bodies he's left behind before today, too.

"Commander," Aleth says, and Cullen almost spits his food out when he turns around.

She's smiling, weary but standing, only a few fresh bruises and cuts here and there. Something in Cullen's gut that he hadn't noticed yet loosens, and although he yearns to hold her close and make sure she's really safe and sound, it's enough to just smile back. Private, small, everything he's needed for the last few days.

"Inquisitor," he replies. "Leliana says she can clear a path for you to the temple this afternoon."

Aleth nods. "I heard." She comes closer, looks down at the map he'd been examining. She tucks back a curl of her dark hair behind her ear - too long to be really practical, too short for her to put up. It's grim with sweat and dust and yet Cullen wishes he could play with it, the way she likes when she's reading - but not here, this is not who they are out there.

"We've been keeping them in place for a while - this part is mostly secure," he says, drawing a line with his finger on the map. "They haven't been able to break through. There aren't many of them near the river. Leliana thinks it's your best option to get to the temple."

Aleth nods as he talks, leaning into his side just a little bit too much, and Cullen's chest is almost painful, like breathing after being underwater for too long. They keep talking strategy, never touching further, but by the time she leaves, giving her another smile, almost apologetic, he feels like he could go ten more days like this.

She goes to Varric, who's sitting with some soldiers, and Cullen sees her turn to them. She doesn't smile, but she exudes a calm confidence that he can feel from where he is. She always had, even at the start, in Haven, but it's more mature now. If he didn't know any better, he'd say she's wielding it as well as she does magic, but there's nothing conscious on her part.

When she goes again, most likely to find Josephine and talk to Celene - damn politics - he knows the look on his soldiers' face only too well. If she'd asked them, they'd have gone back into the fray right this instant, and he knows he would do the same. Before she's Aleth, she's the Inquisitor, the woman who inspires as much devotion as Andraste herself. The first human being he's let himself have faith in again. She doesn't believe much, he knows, and is uncomfortable anytime she's called Herald, but as far as Cullen is concerned, there is no one more worthy of worship on this earth.

He finishes his food and rests his hand on the pommel of his sword, surveying the camp to find people to take with him and open Aleth's path. The tactician in him knows this is to get to the temple before Corypheus, if possible to beat him and rid Thedas of his existence; but underneath that, or maybe above, Aleth strives to make this world better, and Cullen will be damned before he stops walking down that path with her.

**Author's Note:**

> you can find me on tumblr [@ symphorine](http://symphorine.tumblr.com) and on twitter [@ symph0rine](http://twitter.com/symph0rine)


End file.
